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( See a Gray Line NY Sightseeing Downtown Loop) What a beautiful way to spend a cool, dry, sunny day, a ride on the Gray Line NY Sightseeing Uptown Loop with an extension loop on the Gray Line NY Trolley to the Met Museum's Cloisters. The Cloisters is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located in Fort Tryon Park in Northern Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River. The trip began at the Gray Line NY Visitors Center on Eighth Avenue, presented by Jonathan, the Gray Line NY guide, who has a great sense of humor and lots of inside information. The double-decker red bus continued uptown past Central Park West (condos of the stars), Lincoln Center (home to Met Opera, NYC Ballet, NYC Opera, NY Philharmonic, and more), The Dakota (of John Lennon fame), American Museum of Natural History, and The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where I changed to the trolley for The Cloisters, with a presentation by Lin, the Gray Line NY guide. This Episcopal Cathedral is massive, with small chapels within. The stained glass windows and interior, gothic architecture are captivating and mesmerizing. Then the trolley drove up winding hills of Harlem to Fort Tryon Park, home of The Cloisters. On the exterior of The Cloisters, one can see the George Washington Bridge, the Hudson River, the Palisades, and the Heather Garden. On the interior, the winding staircases and intertwining halls lead visitors to works of art from the Middle Ages. This museum extension was built in 1938 to weave the Met Museum's architectural fragments into an authentic environment, replete with Belgian Unicorn tapestries from the 1500's, stained glass windows, sculptures, French stone church portals, twelfth century cloister elements from a French Benedictine Monastery, wall paintings from mid-thirteenth century Italy, and French and Spanish tomb effigies, to name but of few of its treasures. Speaking of treasures, The Cloisters has its own Treasury, with ecclesiastical vestments, secular jewelry, books of hours, and fifteenth-century playing cards. My trip back to St. John the Divine, via the Gray Line NY Trolley again, and, once again, guided by Lin, drove through more rustic scenery of the West Side Highway areas. The next double-decker bus, back to midtown Manhattan, passed Grant's Tomb, Apollo Theatre in Harlem, Harlem Market, Museum Mile (such as The Guggenheim, Met Museum, Frick), Central Park, and Fifth Avenue, back to Times Square. Watch this page for more Gray Line NY Loops around Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Night Tour, and the Waterways. Call 800.669.0051 or visit www.NewYorkSightseeing.com and reserve your tickets for this fascinating and relaxing tour. Tell them you saw them on ExploreDance.com. 
Passing the Hearst Building on Eighth Avenue
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Central Park
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Passing Lincoln Center
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Passing Gray's Papaya
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
The Dakota
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Passing Uptown Churches
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
St. John the Divine
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
A Seven-Candle Menorah
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
St. John the Divine Interior
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
The Cloisters Gardens
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
The Cloisters Interior
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
The Cloisters Gardens
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
The Cloisters Gardens
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
The Cloisters
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Hudson River View
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Quince Trees
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
The Cloisters Interior
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
The Cloisters Gardens
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Uptown Loop in Harlem
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Riverside Church
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Jewish Theological Seminary
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Apollo Theatre
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Harlem News Stand
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Museum Mile
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Grand Army Plaza
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Gray Line Uptown Tour Bus
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
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